Wow, so life has definitely been a bit of a whirlwind down here lately. Though in retrospect, I feel like I am only fooling myself when I try to pretend that life could be normal and mundane here. With the cultural differences and challenges, every day offers its own little surprises and twists and turns. Because just like a box of chocolates that my family might send from the States (thanks for the packages - and I definitely do enjoy sharing American goodies with everyone down here) - you never know what you are going to get.
Ok, so whirlwind tour of whirlwind week:
- Last week, I was asked by my housemate Chelsea to accompany her on an errand that ended up being quite the experience. To put things as simply and straightforward as possible, a fifth grade girl marked that she had been sexually abused, which opened up into this whole realization that she was basically being treated like a slave by her father-in-law (who doesn{t like her to eat anything because they are poor and any food should be for his kids), has been left alone for long stretches of time, and has suffered some real serious physical abuse at times. Chelsea had the unenviable task of first getting a neighbor to take in the girl for the night and then going to tell the mother that the girl was not going home and that they were beginning procedures with the state for her to be taken away. I was the hired muscle to provide support. The meeting with the mother was overwhelming to me personally - at times, I wanted to believe and buy into her grief, at others I thought she was crazy, and in general, the gravity and the sadness of the whole situation just sort of seeped into me. Anyway, it turned out legally that the girl had to be at home to start legal proceedings against the family (go figure) and so she had to be taken back home the next day. At 3:30 that morning though, I was woken up when she came knocking to our door saying her mom had threatened to move with her and she was scared. Now, she was taken away by the state but is in an orphanage/foster home that is also for kids who have committed crimes and had serious behavior issues. Just a sad, sad story.
- Then, this past Friday, Alan Garcia - the president - decided suddenly that Swine Flu was such a concern here that vacations needed to be started early. But apparently it was not enough of a threat to actually shut down the schools right away (today was our last day). Basically though, it seems to be a political move. There have only been two deaths in all of Peru because of the flu and there have been a bunch of strong strikes lately since this month ends with the independence day celebrations and apparently everyone uses the flag for their own causes leading up to it. If you are curious and can read Spanish, here is a bit about it: http://www.perupuntocom.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15357
Oh, and I will update what my plans are for this estended (though only by a few days) vacation when I firm things up.
- Lastly, our community went to the beach to a nuns house for a retreat this past weekend. There were about three dead seals on the beach (apparently they get killed by fishermen and just end up on the beach). It was real good because we had a chance to relax and work out some community things that had been causing tension lately. We also had a funny moment Saturday when we were playing a game called Phase ten and drinking a little bit of chilean wine. The five of us had forgotten to bring glasses with us, so our cups consisted of a bowl, a sport water bottle, an empty coke zero bottle and then the two halves of a plastic water bottle that I had cut in half with a knife (one side having the cap as the bottom). It was quite the little toast. The other neat part of the weekend was that our friend from habitat spent the night out on the sand fishing and camping out. We went to see his catch and him clean up in the morning and he was explaining to us all about fishing with nothing but a net and some string (he catches his own bait by grabbing little crabs at night). He clearly is the man to find in the case of the apocolypse, the collapse of the financial system, or a paralyzing strike (not so inconcievable here).
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